


make it rain

by louvregood



Series: from the rooftops [1]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Dancing in the Rain, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo), Reminiscing, but not really comfort they're both miserable, jason is dead and it's just a sad time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 10:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18467503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louvregood/pseuds/louvregood
Summary: Rain seems to be the only constancy in Leo and Piper's lives.





	make it rain

**Author's Note:**

> title inspired by ed sheeran's cover of foy vance's "make it rain"

“It’s not fair.”

Her voice is hoarse, and suddenly Leo is reminded of that time in Wilderness School when she had laryngitis. Nevada had been through a month long drought, and one day dark ominous clouds rolled in, the sky opened up, and rain was plentiful. The two of them were eating lunch together in the dining hall when it began, and Piper dared Leo to do the “Mexican hat dance” in the downpour.

_“What am I McLean, your personal entertainment monkey? Besides,” he smirked, lightly kicking her shin under the table, “shouldn’t you be doing a Cherokee rain dance or something right about now?”_

_Her jaw dropped, and Leo graciously waited for the dramatics to make an appearance._

_“First of all, Valdez, you don’t perform rain dances while it’s raining, idiot. Secondly, that was racist and stereotypical–”_

_“You started it. ‘Mexican hat dance.’ Bold of you to assume I’m even Mexican. Please.” He scoffed, downing the rest of his chocolate milk._

_Piper laughed, eyes twinkling with mischief. “Touché.”_

_The short bicker died down. They resumed their lunch quietly, the white noise of rain pelting against the windows filling the silence that settled between them. Leo watched as Piper picked yellowing lettuce leaves out of her salad, face scrunched in disgust._

_He hadn’t even tried to dance the_ Jarabe Tapatío _since he was, like, five he’s pretty sure. He had some vague memory of a party, dancing with his mom. They weren’t even doing it right, at least he doesn’t think so. The memory’s more vivid details are buried deep in his brain somewhere, with all the old memories of his mother he unconsciously repressed._

_Still, he felt pretty bold today._

_“Are you done?” He nodded at Piper’s lunch._

_She grimaced, pushing her tray away. “Yeah.”_

_“Great!” He clambered off the bench, picking up his tray. “Come on.”_

_Piper frowned. “Right now? It’s pouring.”_

_“Uh, yeah. You dared me to dance in the rain.”_

_She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re gonna–?”_

_Leo reached over and grabbed her trash as well, finding the nearest garbage can and dumping the foam trays. This place wasn’t very environmentally friendly, huh? No wonder Nevada had month long droughts._

_He walked back over to their table. Piper was staring at him with the most amused expression._

_“Well? Come on,” He insisted, grabbing her hand._

_“Uh, I dared_ you _–”_

 _“The_ Jarabe Tapatío _requires two people.” Leo winked at her. “Didn’t think that one through, did you McLean?”_

_And so Leo dragged her outside into the rain, laughing at her protests along the way. He found it slightly hilarious, considering the history of the dance. They were soaked down to their socks, and Piper complained about being in the downpour at first, but eventually she relished the refreshing feeling. For once, they weren’t baking in the desert heat._

_“Do you even know what you’re doing? Is this how you even do the dance?” Piper asked as Leo twirled her around, her wet bangs plastered over her eyes._

_Leo grinned impishly. “Oh, yeah, totally!” It wasn’t, not in the slightest. He did a mean 1, 2, step though._

_Coach Hedge definitely got on their asses for making fools of themselves in the rain. And Piper definitely caught a cold two days after that._

_“Why aren’t you sick?” She glared. Her voice sounded like she’d been drinking acid. “It’s not fair.”_

_Leo giggled. “I dunno. Karma, maybe?”_

 “It’s not fair,” she repeats, her voice breaking.

It isn’t. It fucking isn’t. It isn’t fair that they spent a whole year fighting against monsters and wind spirits and Gaea for this not to be over yet. It isn’t fair that Jason had been randomly thrust into their lives only to be ripped away hardly two years later. It isn’t fair that Piper’s currently crying her eyes out on the roof of Cabin One in the middle of the night while Leo sat uselessly by her side, unable to say anything that could make this less painful.

“You know what’s fucked up? It doesn’t feel real,” she confesses through gritted teeth. She aggressively wipes her face. “I keep trying to convince myself this is some kind of sick demigod dream, or maybe Hera is messing with his life again. This can’t be— He can’t be…he can’t be—“

Leo reaches over, tentatively placing a warm hand on her back. She was shaking. From the chill. From the grief.

Leo isn’t quite sure what to say, what to _do_. It was _Piper_ who would let you lean on her. She always knew what to say, what to do in situations that needed morale. She was the optimistic voice of reason when all seemed lost. Now, shivering in the chilly nighttime air, tears gliding down her cheeks, she was inconsolable.

Jason should be here. He should be sitting on this rooftop with her, not Leo. Because all of their memories with Jason may be fabricated godly bullshit, but he remembers how happy Piper was when she told him about the night on the rooftop with Jason. And Piper may not have felt that way about Jason anymore but it would still be more natural than Leo being in his place.

They sit up there for what feels like hours. Piper’s crying had slowed to a gradual hiccup. Leo watches as the stars become obscured by dark grey clouds. The rain moves in silently and without warning. There is no thunder, no lightning.

The first drop splashes on Piper’s cheek. She doesn’t even flinch.

It becomes heavier as minutes pass by, but it’s not a downpour. Leo wishes it was. At least then he could pretend it was washing away his sins.

“You’re not up for a Mexican hat dance, are you?” he says humorlessly.

Piper laughs wetly, pushing her soaked hair back. “Oh my gods, no. We’d slip and fall to our deaths.”

Leo chuckles dryly. Yeah, that’s dangerous. They were pretty bad dancers anyway.

“Thanks for helping me tell the camp today,” she says. “I kind of shoved the burden on you because I couldn’t stop crying. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Leo says. “I’m sorry our reunion ended up so… shitty.”

Piper laughs again. “When we got that holographic scroll I wanted to deck you in the face so much.”

“I figured,” Leo grins. He really wishes that happened instead.

“It would have been shitty for you either way,” she declares. Leo hums in agreement.

The rain soon passes by. The two of them are left drenched in rainwater, damp clothing plastered to their skin. Piper’s shivering has intensified. They should probably go inside. They’ll have to take shelter in Cabin One until the harpies retire.

“I’m going to get laryngitis again.”

Leo snorts. “We should go inside.”

“Yeah.”

But they take no initiative to get off the roof. They just sit there. The stars make a reappearance. Piper leans into Leo’s warmth.

“I’m glad you’re back, Valdez.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first installment in a series i've been working on "from the rooftops" that revolves around leo and piper's friendship
> 
> if you enjoy liper, let's be friends
> 
> visit me on [tumblr](http://imperialpercy.tumblr.com/)


End file.
